Meet the syringe that tells you when it's safe to use

This article was taken from the September 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.

India is the world's biggest consumer of syringes, but, according to a study by the International Clinical Epidemiology Network, more than 60 per cent of injections are administered in an unsafe manner. So to combat this, designer David Swann at the University of Huddersfield came up with the Behaviour-Changing Syringe.

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It's coated with CO<sub>2</sub>-sensitive ink that switches from colourless to crimson within a minute of being taken from its nitrogen-filled packaging to give the patient or doctor a window for safe use. The syringe has been tested in India -- and Russia, South Africa and Cameroon have expressed interest.

The next step is to sell it through local partners, but according to Swann, the real challenge will be changing human habits. "Regardless of the problem, behaviour change is at the heart of design," he says.

This article was first published in the September 2014 issue of WIRED magazine